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Dejan Lovren
Dejan Lovren (born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian international footballer who plays as a defender for Liverpool. Liverpool career Following Liverpool's unsuccessful attempt on the title in the 2013-14 season, in which Liverpool's prolific attack was largely deemed to have been let down by a leaky defence, reports surfaced that manager Brendan Rodgers had identified Southampton centre back Dejan Lovren as the commanding defender needed to shore up the backline. Reports circulated that Southampton rebuffed a £20,000,000 bid from Liverpool shortly after Lovren was believed to have submitted a transfer request. Following the bid, Lovren gave an interview in which he stated "my head is already at Liverpool," and accused Southampton of breaking promises to him. Eventually, the impasse in negotiations was breached and Liverpool completed the signing on 27 July 2014, reportedly in a £20,000,000 deal with a £16,000,000 initial fee. This makes Lovren the most expensive defender in Liverpool's history. Liverpool had also acquired Lovren's Southampton teammates Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana earlier in the transfer window, with Lovren concluding a hat trick of signings from the South coast club. Upon signing, Lovren said "It's a dream come true. I'm happy and glad to be here. I'm proud and can't wait to start. Liverpool is more than a club," before taking to Twitter to enthuse "I just signed a contract with one of the biggest club in football history, the great #LiverpoolFC!!" Brendan Rodgers stated "This is a very important signing for us... He is a commanding and powerful presence and clearly has leadership skills, which is important; he fits the profile of player we are looking for." The next day, it was confirmed that Lovren would take shirt number 6 at Anfield- recently vacated by Luis Alberto who had moved on loan to Malaga. Visa problems meant Lovren could not immediately link up with his teammates, who were on their pre-season tour of the USA. His non-competitive debut came on 10 August 2014 in Liverpool's home 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. Lovren netted Liverpool's second goal with a header from a Steven Gerrard corner. Brendan Rodgers described Lovren's performance as "perfect." He then made his competitive debut on 17 August 2014, playing the full 90 minutes of Liverpool's season-opening game against Lovren's former club Southampton, with the Reds recording a 2-1 win. Lovren's early season form however came under some scrutiny as Liverpool continued to leak goals amidst a stuttering start to the campaign. On 20 September 2014, Lovren suffered a head injury after he and Mamadou Sakho attacked the same ball, with the Croatian coming off much worse. He had to complete the rest of the match with his head bandaged. On 4 October 2014, Lovren conceded a penalty in Liverpool's tie with West Brom. He made a rash tackle on forward Saido Berahino, however replays suggested the foul was outside of the box. Berahino subsequently scored the penalty. The Reds however won 2-1. As the Reds continued to struggle defensively in the early part of the season, Lovren came under increasing criticism- in addition to his defensive team mates- from fans and pundits alike, with many questioning the wisdom behind Rodgers' £20,000,000 outlay to recruit the Croat. Lovren experienced a reprieve however on 28 October 2014 as he notched his first competitive goal for Liverpool. Deep into injury time in Liverpool's 4th round League Cup tie at home to Swansea, with the score level at 1-1, Lovren was left unmarked to head in Philippe Coutinho's free kick and seal the win. Despite this, Lovren's detractors grew in number as Liverpool continued to falter. Finally, on 29 November 2014, Brendan Rodgers dropped Lovren to the bench for Liverpool's home tie against Stoke with Kolo Toure taking his place in the team- a move welcomed by most fans. Liverpool produced a more assured defensive display and earned only their third clean sheet of the Premier League season to date with a 1-0 victory. Lovren returned to the team for the Reds' Champions League clash at home to Basel on 9 December 2014. With Liverpool needing a win to secure qualification to the next round, they could only manage a 1-1 draw. Lovren retained his place in the team for the coming games with Brendan Rodgers trialling a three-at-the-back system, however on 17 December 2014, Lovren had to be withdrawn at half time in Liverpool's League Cup clash away to Bournemouth with a groin injury. Lovren made his return from injury on 10 January 2015 as a second half substitute in Liverpool's 1-0 win away to Sunderland. Lovren had had to settle for a place on the bench in Liverpool's preceding matches owing to the good form of Mamadou Sakho in his absence. On 26 February 2015, Lovren played the duration of Liverpool's Europa League tie away to Besiktas. After a 1-0 loss, the tie went to penalties, however Lovren missed the decisive penalty to send Liverpool out of Europe. Lovren began the 2015-16 season as the first choice centre back, starting the first three games alongside Martin Skrtel, and keeping clean sheets in all of them. This led to the manager stating that the fans are seeing a "different Dejan". However, in the next game, Lovren was seen as culpable for two goals in a 3-0 home defeat to West Ham. On 23 September 2015, Lovren suffered an injury in a League Cup win over Carlisle, which ruled him out for around a month. On 28 October 2015, Lovren made his return from injury, playing for the first time under new manager Jurgen Klopp. Lovren put in a solid performance in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth. After an injury to Mamadou Sakho, Lovren returned to the starting lineup, and put in one of his best performances in a red shirt in a 4-1 win at Manchester City. He was later nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month for November. On 13 December 2015, the Croatian was withdrawn with injury from a 2-2 draw with West Brom, seemingly set to be out for a while. Two weeks later however, Lovren made his return, starting alongside Mamadou Sakho in a 1-0 win over top of the table Leicester. On 5 January 2016 however, Lovren suffered another setback, being withdrawn from a 1-0 win at Stoke with a hamstring injury. To show Lovren's progress in proving himself to the fans, the Croatian was named the Standard Chartered Player of the Month for December. On 6 March 2016, Lovren was named man of the match after a starring performance in a 2-1 at Crystal Palace. On 14 April 2016, Lovren scored a last gasp winner to beat Borussia Dortmund and send Liverpool into the semi-finals of the Europa League. The centre back headed home from a James Milner cross to make the score 4-3 to Liverpool with just his second goal for the club. Honours Individual *Standard Chartered Player of the Month: 1 (December 2015) Stats Lovren Lovren